Boris Johnson news – live: Doctors slam health secretary’s ‘appalling’ A&E comments, as Corbyn says racial undertones to Meghan Markle coverage
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Boris Johnson has clashed with Jeremy Corbyn over NHS funding and waiting times at PMQs. The prime minister claimed the Tories were “the party of the NHS” after the Labour leader said “urgent action” was needed to fix the crisis.
While Mr Corbyn expressed concerns about the “racial undertones” in coverage of the Duchess of Sussex, the Tory MP Mark Francois has predicted that the £500,000 needed to get Big Ben to bong for Brexit will be raised within 48 hours.
It comes as Matt Hancock said the public can carry on flying as often as before despite the climate emergency, rejecting the idea of “sacrifices”. The health secretary also drew fury for suggesting the four-hour A&E waiting time target could be scrapped.
‘Just appalling’: Doctors condemn health secretary after he signals A&E waiting targets likely to be scrapped
Plenty of response to Matt Hancock’s suggestion the four-hour A&E waiting time target could be scrapped after the NHS in England recorded its worst figure on record.
The health secretary said performance must be “judged by the right target” after official data showed only 79.8 per cent of emergency patients were seen within four hours in December.
Rachel Clarke, the palliative care doctor and author, said: “Avoiding scrutiny matters more to Matthew Hancock than keeping patients safe. Just appalling.”
GP and Labour activist Dr Martin Edobor claimed it was “acceptance of failure”.
The shadow health secretary Angela Rayner responded: “Matt Hancock has signalled that four-hour waiting targets for A&E are likely to be scrapped for the NHS in England after the worst figures on record this winter.
The deputy leadership candidate tweeted: “If there is a problem just scrap the cause of the problem, Tories response to everything!”
Health secretary Matt Hancock (EPA)
NI leaders write to PM over funding ‘blockage’
Northern Ireland’s first and deputy first ministers have written to Boris Johnson over the “blockage” of financial commitments underpinning power-sharing.
Civil servants in Belfast are preparing detailed costings for pledges the British and Irish governments made in the agreement restoring the devolved institutions, Stormont finance minister Conor Murphy said.
Executive ministers are expecting billions of pounds from the Treasury to finance ambitious plans outlined in the New Decade, New Approach agreement, an accord tabled jointly by the UK and Irish administrations.
Murphy said: “The first and deputy first minister wrote to the Prime Minister yesterday to tell him that we are doing a piece of work, a more detailed piece of work through my department, costing the commitments that the two governments made in the document that they produced last week.”
Assembly finance minister Conor Murphy (PA)
Doctors leaders warn against target revisions while emergency care at 'breaking point'
The BMA has issued a stern statement about Matt Hancock’s suggestion the four-hour A&E waiting time target could be scrapped.
BMA emergency medicine lead Dr Simon Walsh said: “Whatever way you look at the state of emergency care, the picture is bad. Against the current four-hour target, the emergency care system has been woefully underperforming despite the extraordinary efforts of frontline staff with the most recent figures highlighting that emergency departments had their worst month on record in December.
“It is crucial that any proposed changes to current targets are agreed with clinicians to ensure that patient safety is not compromised. This needs to be properly evaluated and should only take place if backed by evidence from the recent pilots to ensure improvements to patient care and maintenance of safety are the central objectives.
“Targets are an important indicator when services are struggling, and there is a very real concern that any change to targets will effectively mask underperformance and the effects of the decisions that politicians make about resourcing the NHS.
“Ultimately, replacing targets does not address the fundamental issues of capacity and resourcing within the NHS and the resulting pressure that has led to such poor performance in emergency departments in recent years. The emergency care system is at breaking point and this, above all else, must be addressed.”
‘Pansexual’ term resonated with me, says Lib Dem MP
The Lib Dem leadership candidate Layla Moran has been talking about why she described herself as pansexual rather than bisexual.
The MP told BBC’s Politics Live: “When I found myself in this lovely relationship, I didn’t think about what label I was going to give myself … Pansexual resonated with me more because in essence it’s about the person. It’s a new name, but for a very old idea.”
Starmer secures second Labour affiliate nomination
Keir Starmer has secured the endorsement of Sera, Labour's affiliated environmental campaign group.
It means the shadow Brexit secretary now only needs the backing of one other affiliated organisation to be guaranteed a place on the leadership ballot. He has already been endorsed by Unison, the UK's biggest trade union.
The announcement is a blow for Rebecca Long-Bailey who, as shadow business secretary, has been a major player in developing Labour's environmental policies, including plans for a Green New Deal.
Almost 200,000 council homes lost in decade since Tories came to power
Almost 200,000 council homes have been lost since the Tories came to power in 2010, new analysis has revealed - a number equivalent to all the homes in Bristol.
The latest government figures show that the number of homes rented from councils has dropped from 1,786,000 in 2010 to 1,592,000 by the end of 2018 - a fall of 194,000, or 11 per cent.
The number of council homes has dropped every year since 2010.
Nandy says Labour should have been "bold enough" to defend free movement
Labour leadership contender Lisa Nandy has said she believes in free movement and insisted her party should have been “bold enough” to defend the principle during Jeremy Corbyn’s tenure as leader.
In a speech on internationalism, the Wigan MP, currently considered an outsider in the race to succeed Mr Corbyn, also criticised the polarisation of the debate over Brexit since the referendum in 2016.
The issue of free movement was divisive in Labour’s ranks as the party thrashed out its Brexit position and it first pledged to end the principle – one of the EU’s key tenants – at the 2017 election.
↵Corbyn condemns 'racial undertones' in media coverage of Meghan Markle
Jeremy Corbyn agrees with Prince Harry that there are “racial undertones” in the coverage of his wife Meghan Markle by the UK media, Labour has said.
A spokesperson for the Labour leader said he had "spoken out" about the issue and "understands how press intrusion can have a negative impact on people and their private lives".
The comment comes amid controversy over the royal couple’s decision to scale back their public activities and move to Canada for part of the year. Harry complained in 2016 of a “wave of abuse and harassment” suffered by Meghan after their relationship became public, pointing to what he said had been “racial undertones” in media comment pieces.
Police investigate allegation of assault at Labour meeting
Police are reportedly investigating an allegation of assault at a Labour Party meeting in Leicester where former MP Keith Vaz was elected as local party chair.
Vaz stepped down at the general election having been suspended from the Commons for six months after being found to have tried to buy cocaine from male prostitutes.
Voices: This new brand of Tory interventionism is going to anger Thatcherites, writes Andrew Grice
"A Tory party traditionally committed to tax cuts may have to swallow the unpalatable medicine of tax rises. To be 'fair', they would have to hit the party’s traditional supporters rather than their new working class ones. They might be seen as stealth taxes, since the Tory manifesto ruled out increasing the rate of income tax, national insurance or VAT.
Free market ministers who still idolise Margaret Thatcher wouldn’t like it. The authors of a 2012 bible for small state, economically libertarian conservatism, Britannia Unchained – Priti Patel, Dominic Raab, Liz Truss, Kwasi Kwarteng and Chris Skidmore – are all ministers under Johnson. It criticised UK workers as “among the worst idlers in the world”.
A Tory party traditionally committed to tax cuts may have to swallow the unpalatable medicine of tax rises
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